Zhiguai Xiaoshuo
   HOME





Zhiguai Xiaoshuo
''Zhiguai xiaoshuo'', translated as "tales of the miraculous", "tales of the strange", or "records of anomalies", is a type of Chinese literature which appeared in the Han dynasty and developed after the fall of the dynasty in 220 CE and in the Tang dynasty in 618 CE. They were among the first examples of Chinese fiction and deal with the existence of the supernatural, rebirth and reincarnation, gods, ghosts, and spirits. Robert Ford Campany sees the genre loosely characterized in its early examples by relatively brief form, often only a list of narrations or description, written in non-rhyming classical prose with a "clear and primary" focus on things which are anomalous, with a Buddhist or Taoist moral. Campany, however, does not see the stories as "fiction", since the literati authors believed that their accounts were factual. Lydia Sing-Chen Chiang suggests that one function of the stories in this genre was to provide a "context by which the unknown may be ascribed names and ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]


picture info

Chinese Literature
The history of Chinese literature extends thousands of years, and begins with the earliest recorded inscriptions, court archives, building to the major works of philosophy and history written during the Axial Age. The Han dynasty, Han (202 BC220 AD) and Tang dynasty, Tang (618–907 AD) dynasties were considered golden ages of poetry, while the Song dynasty, Song (960–1279) and Yuan dynasty, Yuan (1271–1368) were notable for their lyrics (''ci''), essays, dramas, and plays. During the Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing, mature novels were written in written vernacular Chinese, an evolution from the preeminence of Literary Chinese patterned off the language of the Chinese classics. The introduction of widespread woodblock printing during the Tang and the invention of movable type printing by Bi Sheng (990–1051) during the Song rapidly spread written knowledge throughout China. Around the turn of the 20th century, the author Lu Xun (1881–1936) is considered an influential voi ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]


picture info

A New Account Of The Tales Of The World
''A New Account of the Tales of the World'', also known as ''Shishuo Xinyu'' (), was compiled and edited by Liu Yiqing (Liu I-ching; ; 403 – 26 February 444) during the Liu Song dynasty (420–479) of the Northern and Southern dynasties (420–589). It is a historical compilation of anecdotes about Chinese scholars, musicians, and artists during the 2nd-4th centuries. Content The book contains around 1,130 historical anecdotes and character sketches of around 600 literati, musicians and painters who lived in the Han and Wei– Jin periods (2nd-4th centuries). Chapter 19, for instance, has 32 stories about outstanding women. It is thus both a biographical source and a record of colloquial language. The original text of the book was divided into eight volumes of ''juan'' (卷 "scroll"), though current editions generally span ten volumes.Endymion Wilkinson. ''Chinese History: A New Manual''. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]


Chinese Literary Genres
Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of various ethnicities in contemporary China ** Ethnic minorities in China, people of non-Han Chinese ethnicities in modern China ** Ethnic groups in Chinese history, people of various ethnicities in historical China ** Nationals of the People's Republic of China ** Nationals of the Republic of China ** Overseas Chinese, Chinese people residing outside the territories of mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan * Sinitic languages, the major branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family ** Chinese language, a group of related languages spoken predominantly in China, sharing a written script (Chinese characters in traditional and simplified forms) *** Standard Chines ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]


picture info

Chinese Fiction
The history of Chinese literature extends thousands of years, and begins with the earliest recorded inscriptions, court archives, building to the major works of philosophy and history written during the Axial Age. The Han (202 BC220 AD) and Tang (618–907 AD) dynasties were considered golden ages of poetry, while the Song (960–1279) and Yuan (1271–1368) were notable for their lyrics (''ci''), essays, dramas, and plays. During the Ming and Qing, mature novels were written in written vernacular Chinese, an evolution from the preeminence of Literary Chinese patterned off the language of the Chinese classics. The introduction of widespread woodblock printing during the Tang and the invention of movable type printing by Bi Sheng (990–1051) during the Song rapidly spread written knowledge throughout China. Around the turn of the 20th century, the author Lu Xun (1881–1936) is considered an influential voice of vernacular Chinese literature. Pre-classical period Form ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]


Bloomsbury Publishing
Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury's head office is located on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located in New York City, an India publishing office in New Delhi, an Australian sales office in Sydney CBD, and other publishing offices in the UK, including in Oxford. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History The company was founded in 1986 by Nigel Newton, who had previously been employed by other publishing companies. It was floated as a public registered company in 1994, raising £5.5 million, which was used to fund expansion of the company into paperback and children's books. A rights issue of shares in 1998 further raised £6.1 million, which was used to expand the company, in particular to found a U.S. branch. In 1998, Bloomsbury USA was established. Bloomsbury USA Books for Young Read ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]


Strange Stories From A Chinese Studio
''Liaozhai zhiyi'', sometimes shortened to ''Liaozhai'', known in English as ''Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio'', ''Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio'', ''Strange Tales from Make-Do Studio'', or literally ''Strange Tales from a Studio of Leisure'', is a collection of Classical Chinese Chinese literature, stories by Qing dynasty writer Pu Songling, comprising close to 500 stories or "marvel tales" in the ''zhiguai'' and ''chuanqi (short story), chuanqi'' styles, which according to some critics, served to implicitly criticise societal problems. Written over a period of forty years from the late 1600s and ending in the early 1700s, it circulated in manuscripts that were copied and recopied among the author's friends but did not appear in print until 1766. Since then, many of the critically lauded stories have been adapted for other media such as film and television. Publication history Pu assembled the nearly five hundred short and lengthy tales over a period of forty yea ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]




Pu Songling
Pu Songling ( zh, t= , 5 June 1640 – 25 February 1715) was a Chinese writer during the Qing dynasty, best known as the author of '' Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio'' (''Liaozhai zhiyi''). Biography Pu was born into a poor merchant family from Zichuan (淄川, in Zibo, Shandong). At the age of 18, he received the Xiucai degree in the Imperial examination. It was not until he was 71 that he was awarded the '' Gongsheng'' ("tribute student") degree for his achievement in literature rather than for passing the Imperial exam. He spent most of his life working as a private tutor, collecting stories that were later published in '' Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio'' in 1740. Some critics attribute the Vernacular Chinese novel '' Xingshi Yinyuan Zhuan'' ("Marriage Destinies to Awaken the World") to him. Translations of his work * ''Strange Tales from Liaozhai'', 6 volumes (tr. Sidney L. Sondergard). Jain Pub Co., 2008-2014. . * ''Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio'' (tr. ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]


Taiping Guangji
The ''Taiping Guangji'' (), sometimes translated as the ''Extensive Records of the Taiping Era'' or ''Extensive Records of the Taiping Xinguo Period'', is a collection of stories compiled in the early Song dynasty. The work was completed in 978, and printing blocks were cut, but it was prevented from official publication on the grounds that it contained only ''xiaoshuo'' (fiction or "insignificant tellings") and thus "was of no use to students." It circulated in various manuscript copies until it was published in the Ming dynasty. It is considered one of the '' Four Great Books of Song'' (宋四大書). The title refers to the Taiping Xinguo era (太平興國, "great-peace rejuvenate-nation", 976–984 AD), the first years of the reign of Emperor Taizong of Song. The collection is divided into 500 volumes () and consists of about 3 million Chinese characters. It includes 7,021 stories selected from over three hundred books and novels from the Han dynasty to the early Song dynast ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]


picture info

Chuanqi (short Story)
''Chuanqi'' is a form of fictional short story or novella in Classical Chinese first formed in the Tang dynasty. The term often refers specifically to fictions written in the Tang dynasty, in which case the fictions are also called ''Tang chuanqi'' or ''chuanqi wen''. ''Chuanqi'' originated from the '' zhiguai xiaoshuo'' of the Six Dynasties, was first formed in Early Tang dynasty, became popular in Middle Tang and dwindled in the Song dynasty. ''Chuanqi'' has four main themes: love, gods and demons, ''xiayi'' (heroes and knights-errant) and history. Well-known works of ''chuanqi'' include '' Youxian ku'' by Zhang Zhuo, " The World Inside a Pillow" and " Renshi zhuan" ("The Tale of Miss Ren" or "The Story of Lady Ren") by Shen Jiji, '' Yingying's Biography'' by Yuan Zhen, '' The Tale of Huo Xiaoyu'' by Jiang Fang, '' The Tale of Li Wa'' by Bai Xingjian, " The Governor of Nanke" by Li Gongzuo, " The Tale of Hongxian" by Yuan Jiao, " Du Zichun" by Niu Sengru, " Tale of the Trans ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]


You Ming Lu
''You Ming Lu'' (幽明录, yōu míng lù), also known as 幽冥录 and 幽冥记 is a collection of tales of the supernatural from early medieval China traditionally attributed to Liu Yiqing (刘义庆, 403–442). Known as zhiguai ("accounts of anomalies"),Zhang (2014), p. 1 these tales deal with such topics as immortals, ghosts, the afterlife, as well as Buddhist themes such as karmic retribution. The text, originally in either 20 or 30 juan (卷) according to ancient bibliographies, was lost at some point before the Northern Song dynasty of 960 to 1127,Campany (1996), pp. 75–76 but reconstructed from citations from later works. A Qing dynasty recompilation included 158 stories, which was expanded by Lu Xun to bring the total to 265 stories. ''You Ming Lu'' is noteworthy for being one of the earliest known works to display Buddhist influences, and as such had a strong influence on subsequent literature. Like most zhiguai collections, it includes works that had appeared in pr ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]


picture info

Han Dynasty
The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and a warring interregnum known as the Chu–Han Contention (206–202 BC), and it was succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD). The dynasty was briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty (9–23 AD) established by the usurping regent Wang Mang, and is thus separated into two periods—the #Western Han (202 BC – 9 AD), Western Han (202 BC9 AD) and the #Eastern Han (25–220 AD), Eastern Han (25–220 AD). Spanning over four centuries, the Han dynasty is considered a Golden ages of China, golden age in Chinese history, and had a permanent impact on Chinese identity in later periods. The majority ethnic group of modern China refer to themselves as the "Han people" or "Han Chinese". The spoken Chinese ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]


Gan Bao
Gan Bao (or Kan Pao) (, pronounced ân.pàu (fl. 315, died March or April 336), courtesy name Lingsheng (令升), was a Chinese historian and writer at the court of Emperor Yuan of Jin. Life He was a native of Xincai County, in southern Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu .... After diligent study of the classics during his childhood and youth, Gan Bao was appointed head of Office of History at the court. Apparently, the position was granted to him in recognition of his skills which he demonstrated in his ''Jinji'' (晉紀), presumably a written account of earlier court activities. ''Soushen Ji'' Gan Bao subsequently occupied other prominent positions at the court, but today he is best remembered for the book '' Soushen Ji'', which he probably compiled. An extreme ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]